Chapter 15 Why am I on Fire? by Yojimbra

Papa!" I was greeted as the door opened and a Fuyumi dressed in her pajamas came flying out of nowhere and hugged my leg with all her strength, even going so far as to make those adorably hugging noises. "I'm going to recharge you!"

I glanced up and saw Rei with her hair down laughing from the entranceway, ahh, the brains behind the operation. Fuyumi stuck to me like velcro and was nearly as hard to pull off my leg only to reattach herself to my torso as I picked her up, still making that adorably cute sound. "And what makes you think I need to be recharged? It's almost bedtime you know."

"I know!" Fuyumi pulled back just a bit to look at me, she flung her arm wide and pointed towards Rei. "But Mama said that you're an uhh, intro- into- Mama said that being with people makes you grumpy so she told me that if I hugged you I could recharge your batteries."

"Consider my batteries fully charged then, Fuyumi."

She hugged me again before I let her down. "Double check!"

"I won't ever say no to one of your hugs, Fuyumi."

"Good!" she cheered and then tackled Rei in the hip, giving her mother a great big hug and making more of those hugging noises again. "Mama should be fully charged too!"

It was good that Fuyumi was becoming more talkative, she was well on her way to becoming a real chatterbox. But she was at that age where the concept of things that she shouldn't really say hadn't quite formed.

Which meant it was a great way to get dirt on Rei.

"And why would Mommy need to be fully charged too?" I smiled at Rei and gave her a one armed hug and a kiss on the cheek. Her cheeks were instantly red. "Well, besides the fact that she had to move a lot of furniture on her own."

"I had help," Rei placed her hand against my chest, a light smile appearing on her face.

"Mommy had her special juice!"

I looked down at Fuyumi who was smiling like that was the answer to all of life's questions. "Special juice?"

"I was nervous alright," She pushed a bit of hair out of her eyes. "So I had a glass of wine while we watched you give your speech."

"That explains the text."

All the blood rushing to my wife's head mixed with the one glass of wine and turned her into a tsundere. Her blush all but doubled in intensity and she flopped her arms while letting out a huff. "Whatever, I was just being honest."

I laughed and hugged her more, kissing the top of her head even as she squirmed. "Thanks Rei, you really helped me out earlier. I couldn't have done that without you."

She pushed away, holding onto the spot that I just kissed and rubbing it softly. The smile on her face went wonderfully with her blush. "Well, you can show me your gratitude later."

"Or right now," I offered, reaching down to grab Fuyumi. "What needs to be done for the kids?"

"All taken care of." Rei beamed and stole Fuyumi from me. "Isn't that right Fuyumi?"

Fuyumi nodded, her white and red hair bouncing as she did. "Story time!"

Rei rolled her eyes and smiled. "I'll take care of story time." She pushed a finger to my chest once again. "You, go get ready for bed too."

Fuyumi gasped. "Mama putting Papa to bed?"

I laughed. "Alright alright, I'll grab a bite to eat and scrub myself clean."

"You better," Rei muttered through her blush.

Cold soba.

Warm bath.

Bedtime kiss for my kids.

Then.

Bed with my wife.

"Okay," Rei said softly, both of her hands wrapped around one of mine as she pulled me through the house towards our new room. I knew where our new bedroom was and had even done my part to move some of our dressers and other furniture in there ever since we committed towards the idea of sharing a room, but Rei had done most of the organizing. It left me feeling a bit guilty. "Close your eyes."

"Seriously?" I raised an eyebrow but closed my eyes all the same.

"Yep!" I all but heard Rei skip. She let go of my hand and I heard a door open up. "Now wait here."

"Do I have to keep my eyes closed?"

"Yep!"

I crossed my arms and smiled, listening to the sound of Rei move in our new bedroom. The sounds coupled with my own imagination were nearly too much. It sounded like Rei was stripping. Which made sense, given how she wasn't wearing her sleeping wear yet, and it wasn't like she was uncomfortable around me naked, we took baths together at least once a week. Was she going to wear something special? Oh god. I just had on pajama pants and a T-shirt! Was there such a thing as male Lingerie?

What should I do? What was she wearing? What was I wearing? Uhh. Fuck! Oh! Wait! I know! I pulled my shirt off and balled it into my hand and stood shirtless, waiting for Rei to tell me to let me in. My leg started shaking. Somehow the speech I had given in front of countless people seemed less frightening now.

I snorted, next time I just need to think about sleeping with my wife if I get nervous. That sounded great. But, I scratched the back of my head and sighed. Sure, she was my wife, and we were in a romantic relationship, but I didn't marry her. Maybe I should fix that. That would be romantic right? Like loving someone so much you marry them a second time?

Or would that be cheesy?

Wait.

I was cheesy.

And Rei liked it.

Or tolerated it.

"Alright Enji you can—" Rei's voice beckoned me towards her and I turned and opened my eyes to see her standing in our new bedroom. "Why are you shirtless?"

Yep. I was going to ask my wife to marry me.

I had lived my entire life with the idea the casual was sexy. A loose T-shirt, a pair of pajama pants, hair down, that was my ideal level of sexiness that up until recently I thought couldn't be beat. But Rei, with her long white hair down, silver eyes staring at my chest, wearing a shiny white nightie that looked like it was made of silk, had completely shattered that belief I once held.

"You're so beautiful," I reached out and cupped her cheek, watching as she blushed at me.

"And you're shirtless!" She all but screamed then smacked a hand over her mouth. "Why?"

I shrugged. "I prefer to sleep shirtless." It was technically the truth, but also a power play! Win win!

"Oh. I umm, I can umm." Rei reached out and touched my chest. "I can get used to that I suppose."

Being buff had a lot of perks.

"Well," Rei grabbed my hand once more and gestured towards our room. "What do you think?"

It could have been a pizza box on the ground and I would have loved it because I'd be sharing it with Rei. But the room I saw was more than suitable. The large bed that Rei had picked out for us dominated the room, with modern black and grey sheets that, while a bit boring, really made it pop and just look so much more comfortable. We each had our own nightstand, the fancy kind that came with USB ports for phone charging.

It was a cozy, comfortable place, perfect for cuddling with Rei.

There was even a new T.V. that was mounted to the wall, waiting for us to start watching our shows.

"I think my back is grateful I won't have to sleep on the couch just to hold you while we sleep."

Rei laughed, "Oh good, I'm glad I'm not the only one that was doing that."

I chuckled and picked her up, earning a light screech from Rei. "I think we should really be more direct about what we want from each other."

"Oh," Rei muttered, wrapping her arms around my neck as I carried her to the bed.

I placed her down gently, moving the covers and laying down next to her.

There was no way I was going to be able to fall asleep tonight.

"And, umm, what is it that you want?" Rei asked, her face all but beet red as she kept looking me in the eyes. Her hand was on my chest again.

"To make you happy."

"Jerk!" A pillow was shoved in my face. "Don't say something so vague like that."

I smiled and kissed her on the cheek, still holding her tight in my arms. "I'm not being vague. That's what I want Rei. I want to make you happy."

"Then pick something else to want." She muttered, burying her face into my chest. Her breath was cool. "Because I don't think I can take being much happier than I am right now."

For a long time we just stared at each other, the overhead light nearly ruining the mood. I just enjoyed holding onto Rei, hugging her, cuddling her, being close to her. Being able to just kiss her whenever I want, and feeling her want all those things as well. Out of everything that had happened to me since I became Enji, she was by far the best.

"Hey Enji," Rei hummed, touching my cheek softly. "If we're going to be direct, then, I want you to say it again."

"Say what?" I asked, trying to remember what I actually said today. Did she want my speech because I couldn't say that again even if I wanted to. Or did I accidentally do something romantic again.

She shrugged. "What you said to me on the phone. When you hung up."

"Oh." Right. We never actually said that to each other. We had been reluctant to actually say that, which felt so silly now. I swallowed and gathered myself. "Rei, I love you."

She let out a groan and buried her head into the blankets. Her body twitched. "Again."

"I love you."

"Again."

"You first."

"One more time!"

"I love you, Rei."

She poked her head up and leaned up on me, crawling up to hold her face a few inches away from mine and then kissing me softly. "And I love you. So much more than I ever thought I could love anyone. Thank you for coming into my life."

What could I say to that? What could I say that hadn't already been said? So I repeated myself. "I love you, Rei."

She kissed me again, her body pressed up against mine as we cuddled and made out in our new bed. "Enji. Tonight, I...I want you...I want you to show me how much you love me."

Oh.

Oh!

OH!

I nodded and rolled both of us over, pushing Rei against the bed as I kissed her, my hand touching her—

"Mama, Papa?"

We both froze.

As one, we looked to the side of the bed where the voice had come from and we saw Fuyumi there, holding one of her stuffed animals in her hand, looking more than a bit sleepy.

"Fuyumi?" I asked, "Why aren't you in bed?."

"I had a bad dream."

Liar.

"Can I sleep in your new bed with you tonight?"

I looked to Rei, who looked at me. We both blinked, shrugged, and let out a sigh. Really should have known something like this was going to end up happening with two kids in the house.

"Come on up Fuyumi, you can sleep with us for tonight, but just for tonight okay?" Rei said softly and pushed away from me slightly, correcting her nightie ever so slightly.

Naturally, Fuyumi flopped down right between us and passed out in a matter of minutes once the light was turned off.

What felt like thirty minutes later Touya appeared in the doorway, holding his own blanket.

"You wanna sleep with us too?" I asked.

He nodded.

"Climb on up."

I just got cock blocked by my own kids. It was almost like they didn't want a new brother or sister.